A delegation of 10 Yuma County representatives attended the Arizona Town Hall conference last week in Mesa, and many left satisfied with the job they did in protecting the area’s interests when it comes to the topic of the summit: water.
It wasn’t for lack of trying, said Ken Rosevear, director of AZ Common Sense and formerly of the Yuma County Chamber of Commerce. “I think we did a really good job, we would meet each night and discuss that day and then prepare our position statement for the next day. So we were really well-coordinated, we worked well together as a group,” he said.
Yuma County Board of Supervisors Chairman Russell McCloud, another participant, said the message was, “instead of looking to agriculture to solve the state’s water supply, that there are other methods of doing so.”
The conference ran from Sunday evening through Wednesday afternoon, all geared toward putting together a report to be sent to the Legislature and Gov. Doug Ducey ahead of the new session every January in Phoenix.
“It was an intense conference, I don’t mind telling you,” said Paul Muthard, of Pasquinelli Produce. “There was a lot of work and a lot of time spent, even during dinners and lunches and breakfasts there were presentations. So it was pretty businesslike, not very much fluff.
“And my general impression is the attendees of this town hall were pretty darn smart about water. There were a lot of professionals.”
With the western U.S. in a drought threatening Colorado River shortages and about 70 percent of the state’s water going to agricultural uses, according to the Arizona Department of Water Resources, Yumans at the conference realized that industry could end up under scrutiny, so they tried to get the word out while in their breakout groups.
The format, which is similar to Yuma’s Southwest Arizona Futures Forum, divides attendees into smaller groups to talk about issues within the broad category of water, such as current usage, meeting future water needs, the impact of technology and conservation measures such as pricing. The facts and suggestions from those groups are then distilled into the final report.
The Yuma area is the source of some 85 percent of the nation’s winter vegetables, so representatives emphasized that fact in their groups, said Yuma City Attorney Steve Moore. “I think people have a much, much better understanding of that, at least in our section. Which is also reflected in the final report that they’re drafting up,” he said.
The document on the Arizona Town Hall is still just a draft, but its conclusions look to other measures for, as the conference’s title puts it, “Keeping Arizona’s Water Glass Half Full.” The word “agriculture” doesn’t appear at all in the action plan it sets for the six priorities it sets, which are:
• Considering actions such as local water planning, funding the state Water Resources Development Fund and addressing demands on the overloaded Colorado River, where most of Yuma’s water comes from.
• Coming up with new ways to fund water supply and new infrastructure.
• Funding and staffing the ADWR adequately.
• Education and public awareness.
• Creating a “culture of conservation” and developing additional water sources such as reclaimed water and desalination.
• Legal reforms to streamline and simplify resolution of water rights including tribal rights, “provided that federal claims are adjudicated first and small users are adequately protected.”
The last section didn’t indicate the report would endorse making it easier to transfer water rights from one part of the state to another, something of particular concern to Yuma as it has some of the most senior, or protected, rights to the Colorado River.
An earlier section of the draft report states any discussion of transferring rights between users “is worth exploring,” but called it “a highly sensitive and controversial topic which has the potential to pit regions, communities and industries within Arizona against each other.”
Voluntary deals to redistribute water through planning and market-based systems might be another option, it also says.
McCloud said many of the solutions discussed were on the level of low-flow toilets and other small modifications. “I think the thing that really came out about it is we’re not going to solve our water issues with one grand idea. It’s going to be a lot of really small ideas, good ideas, small incremental improvements in water usage, which put together will add up to significant water savings over time,” he said.
Moore said participants at the town hall’s final, “plenary” session had the chance to vote items up or down in the final report, and references to potential measures such as leaving land fallow were taken out after the Yuma contingent objected. “Anything critical of ag got taken out of there,” he said.
There was one general statement that “Some advocate for limited agricultural use, restricted growth in water-limited areas or more astute forest and watershed management.”
Muthard said some of the Yuma contingent tried to advance the idea of limiting municipal growth in areas with a limited water supply, but that appears to be the only place in the draft report where it shows up.
He said a case study report released in February by the Yuma County Agriculture Water Coalition about efforts to increase water efficiency seemed to have convinced many who attended the conference ahead of time that the area’s farmers are good stewards of their supply.
“No one seemed to take much issue that there was much more that Yuma agriculture can do. The case has been pretty convincingly made that Yuma agriculture’s very efficient and a world leader, basically, in efficiency, and I didn’t get anyone questioning how much more, ‘if only ag would do this,'” he said.
A spokeswoman for Arizona Town Hall, Rhonda Bannard, said about 150 representatives from around the state attended, along with presenters, recorders and others who help put the event together. They are generally nominated by members of the Town Hall board or are members of the Town Hall organization, with a goal of representing the state’s geographic and ethnic diversity. They have to pay to participate, though scholarships are available.
The other Yuma County participants were John Courtis, executive director of the Yuma County Chamber of Commerce; Shelley Mellon, chair of the Southwest Arizona Futures Forum; Jay Simonton, utilities director for the city of Yuma; Bruce Gwynn of the Yuma Fresh Vegetable Association; Patrick Morgan of the Yuma Mesa Irrigation and Drainage District; and agricultural attorney Stephen Shadle.
Arizona Town Halls have been held for decades, and return to the topic of water about once a decade, most recently in 2004. Rosevear said they sometimes do have an impact on state policy, depending on how important the issue is at the moment.
“This one is especially important, because of the situation in California. We don’t want to become a California,” he said, referring to the state’s water rationing.
Muthard said it appeared to be a productive session for local water rights.
“I walked away from the conference not being too fearful of a revolt, with people saying, ‘we’re going to take Yuma’s water, come hell or high water.’ No pun intended,” he said.